


Hot and Cold

by Bones (thepiesandthebees)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Coming of Age, Destiel - Freeform, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, destiel au, short fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-24
Updated: 2015-05-24
Packaged: 2018-03-31 23:31:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3997330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thepiesandthebees/pseuds/Bones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel has been smitten with Dean Winchester since the boy offered him his favorite flavor of popsicle in middle school. And Castiel's best friend, Sam, has been trying to get them together ever since.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hot and Cold

**Author's Note:**

> This was from a prompt anonymously sent to me via my tumblr @thesarcasticpan:  
> DESTIEL AU WHERE SAM AND CAS HAVE BEEN BESTIES SINCE GRADE ONE AND SAM BROUGHT CAS HOME TO MEET DEAN AND DEAN GAVE CAS HIS FAV POPSICLE FLAVOR AND FOREVER AFTER CAS IS ABSOLUTELY SMITTEN WITH SAMS BROTHER AND KEEPS TRYING TO WOO HIM AS THEY GROW UP

“Here, I got you strawberry,” Dean said, holding out a popsicle. “Sam mentioned it was your favorite.”

Castiel hesitated before taking the popsicle, both flattered and stunned by this hazel-eyed boy who was too handsome for his own good. “Thanks,” Castiel mumbled and unwrapped his popsicle.

Sam had a curious look. “Cas, this is my brother, Dean. Dean, this is Cas.”

Dean held out his hand to Castiel. A warm, summer breeze blew threw the kitchen window, mussing Castiel’s already messy hair. He shook Dean’s hand, surprised to find it rough with calluses. “Sam’s said a lot about you.”

Dean smiled in amusement. “He’s said a lot about you, too. Funny how you guys have been friends since first grade, and I’m only now meeting you.”

“My parents didn’t let me visit other friends houses until recently.” He shrugged. “They’re pretty conservative.”

“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you.” Dean pulled a cherry popsicle from a box in the freezer and unwrapped it. As he wrapped his lips around the frozen, cylindrical treat, Castiel looked away, his cheeks heating. He caught Sam’s eyes just as they widened in understanding. The heat in Castiel’s face rose to a burning.

“You all right, Cas?” Dean asked, looking at the boy in concern. “I know our air conditioning isn’t that good. You look like you’re burning up.”

Castiel wondered what gods he’d pissed off to deserve this kind of torture. “I’ll be okay. It’s just hot as hell this summer.”

“It’s supposed to be over a hundred this afternoon.”

“Maybe we can walk to the pool later,” Sam suggested with a mischievous smile. “It’s just down the block.”

Castiel thought his face might melt off at the thought of Dean in nothing but swim trunks and stopped himself from glaring at his best friend. “I didn’t bring anything to swim in.”

“Oh, you can borrow a pair of shorts from me,” Dean offered.

Castiel again wondered what gods he’d pissed off as his blush refused to recede. “Thanks.”

“Sure thing. I’ll get some stuff together. Be right back.” Dean walked out of the kitchen, leaving Castiel alone with Sam.

“Dude, you’re into my brother,” Sam whispered in the kind of whisper that’s really just raspy talking. He held his own grape popsicle in one hand. It dripped over his hand, but he seemed unconcerned about it.

“Shh!” Castiel tried to ignore how hot his face had become and attempted to convince himself it was just the summer air coming through the window. “I am not.”

“You so are.”

“And so what if I am? He’s not gay.”

“He could be.”

Castiel gave an unimpressed look. “He’s a year older.”

“So? It’s just a year.”

Castiel grimaced. “ _So_ he’s going to be in eighth grade this year while I’m going to be in seventh grade. That’s _weird_.”

Sam had an unimpressed look. “No, it’s not.”

Castiel shook his head. “This is a bad idea.”

“Just follow my lead.”

Dean returned to the kitchen with his popsicle half-eaten and two swim trunks in one hand. “All right. Let’s go swimming.”

That day, Castiel decided the summer heat had melted his popsicle too quickly for him to catch the drops before they fell on his hand—and not his neglect of his favorite, frozen treat.

#

Sam’s first attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend happened in the middle of summer when the two had become so comfortable with each other that Sam sometimes felt like he was third wheeling. It was July, and they’d all gone together to watch fireworks at a show in a local park. In the crowd, Castiel had been pushed over a tree root and mildly twisted his ankle. Obviously, Sam had to run back home to get first aid supplies while Dean laid Castiel on a blanket they’d laid out over the grass. And he may or may not have accidentally run into Castiel, forcing Dean to catch him. And he may or may not have taken his sweet time going home and coming back to give Dean and Castiel time alone to lay on the blanket together. But, alas, the evening ended without any kissing and minimal cuddling.

Sam’s second attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend happened at the beginning of the school year when he may or may not have stolen Castiel’s algebra notes. His best friend, at a loss for what to do about his homework, went to Dean for tutoring at Sam’s recommendation. Sam, after all, was just too busy with work to help his friend himself. But, alas, after an afternoon of strictly tutoring alone in Dean’s room, Castiel opted to leave before dinner.

Sam’s fifth attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend happened during winter break when he rigged his family’s secret santa with the help of his mother and father—who at this point were in agreement that Dean and Castiel really had to do something about this growing attraction. When Castiel pulled Dean’s name from Uncle Bobby’s old baseball cap, he had no idea that all the names in the hat were “Dean.” And when Dean pulled Castiel’s name from the same hat after Uncle Bobby had briefly gone into the kitchen at Sam’s request, he had no idea that his brother had replaced all the names in the hat with strips of paper reading “Castiel.” Come Christmas Eve, Dean had been ecstatic to open his gift and find it was a set of Metallica, Queen, and Pink Floyd CDs. Castiel had been equally ecstatic to open his gift and find it was a book on veterinary medicine, complete with a guide to beekeeping. And they had looked at each other from opposite sides of the Winchester’s living room with knowing smiles on their faces.

Sam’s eighth attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend happened at eighth grade graduation when he invited Castiel over to his house with Dean to celebrate. The attempt was short-lived as Dean’s friend, Lisa, inopportunely decided to kiss him at the ceremony, effectively disheartening Castiel who had then turned down Sam’s invitation and instead spent his afternoon sulking with his book of veterinary medicine.

Sam’s ninth attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend happened almost two years later when Lisa dumped Dean because she thought “his heart was no longer in the relationship.” Sam had little to do with this attempt, as Dean had tearfully called his best friend over that afternoon, and Castiel had come running over with freshly baked cookies and a shoulder for Dean to cry on.

Sam’s seventeenth attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend happened at Dean’s prom when he found himself going with his lesbian friend, Charlie, and Castiel’s sister, Anna, had decided to bring her little brother at Sam’s recommendation—as she, too, was getting sick of Castiel’s and Dean’s games. No one had really expected that Charlie and Anna would hit it off so well that they’d abandon their “dates” to grind with each other on the dance floor. Grinding had been followed by making out in Anna’s car, forcing Dean and Castiel to not only spend all of prom together but a car ride home in Dean’s impala that would end with the two passing out in the backseat after drinking a case of beer Dean had stolen from Bobby.

Sam’s nineteenth attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend happened shortly after Dean discovered the joys of having sex with men. In his freshman year of college, he started a casual relationship with Benny, a biology major who lived on Dean’s dormitory floor. After Dean came out to his family as bisexual, Sam had shrugged and muttered that Castiel was also bi. Dean had been so jarred by the information that he’d choked on the orange juice he’d been drinking at the time.

Sam’s twenty-fourth attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend happened at his and Castiel’s high school graduation when he’d invited Dean who really hadn’t needed the reminder. Dean had arrived early with a new disposable camera and a broad smile. The disposable camera had run out of film by the end of the ceremony, which had made Castiel laugh and Dean blush, but Dean’s smile hadn’t faltered the entire time.

Sam’s twenty-six attempt at hooking up his brother and best friend was his final, and it wasn’t really an attempt on his part. Castiel had come over to visit during the summer before he would leave for college. It had been one of the more humid summers where the wind was both sweltering and moist. Sam had brought out popsicles for his brother and best friend when things went terribly wrong.

“Cas, you can’t go out with Meg!” Dean burst, looking as angry as he did desperate.

Castiel spun on Dean, blue eyes hard. “Who the hell are you to tell me who I can and can’t date!”

“ _She’s cheating on you!_ ” Dean’s hands balled into fists at his sides. “I saw her sucking face with some dude! You can’t go out with her!”

Castiel jaw clenched. “That’s for me to decide.”

Dean shook his head. “I can’t believe this.”

“Why do you care? It’s not your problem.”

Dean scowled. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Of course it’s my problem. You’re my friend.”

“That doesn’t give you permission to stick your nose in my business.”

Dean’s eyes narrowed. “Fine. Go out with Meg while she sleeps with other guys. That sounds like a real healthy relationship.”

Something in Castiel snapped. “What the fuck do you know about healthy relationships! Who the hell do you think you are to stand there and judge me! You don’t know shit!”

“What don’t I know, Cas!” Dean yelled, matching Castiel’s intensity. “Are you telling me that you _like_ going out with someone you know is cheating on you!”

“It doesn’t matter! It’s my choice! Why do you fucking care!”

“Because I love you!”

The anger drained from Castiel’s face in an instant. Dean blanched and backed away from his best friend, almost running into his little brother who looked on in confusion, excitement, and horror. Dean never said “I love you.” Sam had only heard his brother say the phrase a few times, and it was never to anyone other than family.

“What?” Castiel rasped, as if his throat had suddenly gone dry.

Dean’s back hit the wall of the living room, and he held his face in a hand. “I love you,” he repeated, voice soft but steady. “You can’t go out with Meg. You deserve someone better.”

“Someone who loves me?”

Dean didn’t reply. He just dropped his hand from his face and stared at Castiel with those hazel eyes. Sam chose then to leave the forgotten popsicles in their wrappers on the living room’s coffee table and take his exit to the kitchen. Neither Dean nor Castiel seemed to notice. They were lost in their own world, as they tended to be with each other.

“How long?” Castiel asked after a long silence.

Dean shrugged. “I don’t know. Years maybe.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I didn’t understand it myself until recently.”

Castiel regarded Dean carefully. “So the reason you don’t want me to go out with Meg is because…?”

When Dean didn’t answer, Castiel stepped closer until they were only a foot apart. “Why shouldn’t I go out with Meg?” Castiel pressed.

Dean drew in a deep breath. “Because you should be going out with me.”

Castiel smiled, and Dean cupped his best friend’s jaw in his hands. It seemed the most natural thing for Dean to lean down and press their lips together, and even though his hands were shaking and his heart was racing, he felt at ease, as if he had finally found what he’d always been looking for. The kiss was steady, slow, filled with the certainty that this was right.

When they pulled apart, Castiel held Dean’s face in his hands and whispered, “I love you, too.” A warm breeze swept over them and onto the popsicles sitting on the table—one strawberry, the other cherry.


End file.
